Julia Spicer raised the issue of implementation of new patent reforms expected in 2013. She was referring to the details of implementation, Devil being in the details and so forth. Her take is that startups are likely to get the short end of the stick. We'll see.

C'mon, dude, spare me the Ayn Rand boilerplate. If you've ever started a business, you would know that it's nearly impossible to get health insurance for a company of one or two. Office space is dear, and grunged-out coworking spaces are no substitute. Capital is nearly impossible to raise except for the "flavor of the month" niche.
There's a MILLION things that government should and must do to enable people to strike out on their own.

Dent's right. The climate for investing in medical electronics is about as bad as it is for semiconductors which makes no sense in our aging society.
I'm interested in what she meant about reforms yet to come in the patent system. I suspect we need patent reform reform.

I think innovation's going to be the easy part in the next several years. The technology groundwork of the past 20 years has laid a foundation to put innovation tools (if you will) in the hands of millions of people who never would have thought to execute on a crazy idea.
I think the bigger problem for innovation is scaling a small company as it grows to meet demand. That's where labor force issues, regulatory issues, etc. start to come into play.

Why not ask businesses, venture capitalists, and engineers, what it takes to innovate? I get a kick out of people in the periphery, politicians in particular, thinking that they can orchestrate innovation.
The best the politicians can do is to not punish business and not punish entrepeneurs. And then, please get out of the way.